Epic Heroes In The Iliad, And Gilgamesh

What comes to mind when thinking of a hero? Spider-man, Batman, the Incredibes? Superheroes are brave, courageous, and strong. The qualities of a hero are based from epics written thousands of years ago. Epic heroes have many of the same character traits. Beowulf from Beowulf, Achilles from The Iliad, and Gilgamesh from Gilgamesh all share three common traits, their strength, their bravery, and a weakness. All epic heroes also have something that motivates them.

Epic heroes tend to have some kind of god-like strength they use to beat their enemies. Beowulf used his strength to beat Grendel. Beowulf also defeated Grendel’s mother when she tried to avenge her son. He had no weapon when he fought, just his bare hands. Gilgamesh and Beowulf are both extremely brave. However they are both somewhat greedy. Beowulf is motivated by sheer desire to beat any enemy, no matter the size or reputation of that enemy. Just like Beowulf, Achilles’ possessed god-like strength.
He later used his strength to kill the murderer of his friend, Patroculus, Hector. Achilles’ super speed gave him the ability to chase Hector along the city of for a long period of time without getting tired. Athena then disguised herself as Hector’s brother and tricked Hector into facing Achilles. This resulted in the murder of Hector and Achilles win. Achiles is motivated by the desire for glory. However this changes to the desire for revenge after Hector kills his best friend. Achilles is motivated by the desire for glory. Gilgamesh, like Beowulf and Achillies, had a god-like strength and had a demeanor to use